Karel Dolak, 80, is ready to compete in his fourth Tsogo Sun Amashova Classic, having started cycling at 66.
Durban - All the time you spend on your bike, you can deduct from your age.
“I am living proof of this,” 80-year-old Karel Dolak told the “Independent on Saturday” ahead of travelling down to KwaZulu-Natal from Gauteng to compete in his fourth Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic on October 22.
Although he played around on bicycles as a child in the former Czechoslovakia, he only started cycling seriously at the age of 66 after suffering a dislocated shoulder on the football field.
“I used to play league. Until I was 55. Then it was just with friends and their sons on a Sunday morning. That’s when some youngster ran into me and dislocated my shoulder.”
Dolak considered running as his next sport, bought a pair of running shoes but was offered a bicycle before he hit the road.
His routine rides from his home in Lonehill, Sandton, on his carbon fibre Giant road bike comprise loops around the nearby Cradle of Mankind. Sometimes 66km, sometimes 88km. Even 161km.
Being hit by a car “during the year of Covid” gave him a severe hip injury.
However, four months later the former draughtsman and engineer was back on the saddle and pedalling.
“You have to look forward. If you don’t, your walking will deteriorate and you’ll have pain.”
Dolak and cycling friends have, in the past, cycled to Durban from Gauteng, their last leg being the Amashova.
This year his 44-year-old son, and namesake, came out from Scotland to join his dad on the Amashova’s 106km route.
When Karel senior crosses the finishing line, he’ll be able to deduct his time from his age. Maybe other contestants will do so too.
The Independent on Saturday
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